Kirkwall (Part 5 - Raid)

After escaping the pursuit of the soldiers, Edvard did not leave in search of another village. Instead, he stayed in the forest for a while and observed the daily interactions of those living there. Trying to better understand what people did, how they lived.

Mostly he saw the villagers taking care of their fields, with some taking care of the grazing animals. In general, a group of twenty to forty older men would head to the river not that far from Kirkwall. Returning at night with fish. Very few would go into the woods to hunt.

Edvard also tried to look at what was going on inside the village, however, the walls made this quite difficult. However, he could observe the guards, and as he did he found that most of them would often slack off.

While they didn't do anything as excessive as drinking or playing cards as Edvard had read about in stories when he was young, they did group together and chat.

Their shifts were normally a total of two hours at a position, after which they would move to another spot. Probably a way to try and lessen slacking by the captain. Yet it didn't work that well, especially since the captain himself was quite lazy and didn't really enforce his rules.

After a few days, Edvard realized that it was actually impressive that the village still stood. Nothing was well planned out nor were there any attempts at organizing things.

'So, either this entire world is very primitive, or this village is just badly managed.' Edvard though, unsure which it was.

The guards were one thing, but the crops were quite another and one that truly shocked Edvard.

Everyone planted what they wanted according to what they believed would get them the most profit.

There was little care to ensure the plants did not encroach on one another, and the grazing animals far too often made it into the fields. Leading into arguments that could even turn into fistfights among the farmers.

'Why? Why not make bigger fields of 1 crop, and then rotate between them? Also, why are the grazing animals not properly held behind fences?' Granted, it was just a handful of animals, goats mostly. For milk. It was still strange to see just how bad things were run.

Naturally, he didn't just observe the village over the past few days. He also went out and hunted quite a number of animals. Mostly small ones, rabbits, foxes, and other small critters he didn't recognize.

They both gave him a decent meal, and some fur he could treat and hopefully sell at his next stop. He was certain that further in the prey would become more scarce, so he wanted to take advantage of the area while also still learning more about the world.

One day, as he was skinning two rabbits, screams from the village tore him from what he was doing. Grabbing his bow and a quiver of arrows Edvard rushed to the village, welcomed by the sight of orcs killing all those in their way.

{"Do not kill the females and children! Slaughter the rest!"} The largest of the orcs roared.

It had a massive battle-axe in hand and a bit more clothing than the others. It even had a horned helmet, though it was not wearing it as one was supposed to. Instead, it had it slung around its neck.

The roar caused the villagers to freeze in fear and the guards to lose their courage. Seeing the orcs chasing them they closed the gates on those who were still outside. Screams of terror followed as the orcs slaughtered the men outside and started capturing the women and children.

'This isn't right,' Edvard thought as he looked at the massacre. He couldn't stand just watching the horror transpiring before him. Something in him stirred and he acted.

'Dammit! I am going to regret this!' Edvard mumbled as he took an arrow from his makeshift quiver and took aim. The orcs not being armored made this much easier. From the woods he let fly, his arrow missing its mark and landing in the orc's back instead of his neck.

It roared in anger and turned to where the pain come from, only for its neck to receive an arrow in welcoming. The second one did not miss.

In the chaos the orcs did not even realize that one of them died, the girl who was being carried back by the orc stared in horror as the blood of her captor colored her red. Fainting from fear.

"Tsk! Run, you idiot." Edvard clicked his tongue in disapproval and ignored the girl. Focusing on one of the other orcs who were trying to gather up those still alive outside the gates.

He quickly killed over 6 orcs, a few of their captives ran to the forest while most simply fell to the ground and froze in fear.

'That is the easy ones,' Edvard thought as he looked to the group assaulting the gates. Easily over forty orcs, slashing at the gate with their weapons without a care if they broke. They would simply take a step back if that was the case and let another come in to finish the job.

Edvard sighed as he realized how useless the guards were. They were trying to shoot from the walls, yet, somehow, despite having better bows and arrows than him. Despite having a nice vantage point and clear sight. Their arrows almost never killed. By the time Edvard had finished off the 3 more orcs tasked with capturing prisoners, they as a collective had only killed one.

With apprehension, Edvard started moving closer. He had to exit the cover of the crops to be able to reach the orcs at the gate. As he moved he tried to recover his arrows and also tell those still frozen on the ground to run for it.

Most of them ignored him and instead pissed themselves when they felt his hand on their shoulders.

'I can't do more than that,' With a heavy heart, Edvard moved past them and let their choices be their own. Finally, the orcs brought the gate down just as he came within range. The orcs charged the guards who were pissing themselves. Killing two or three with a single attack.

In front of these 2-meter giants built like herculeans, the guards stood no chance. Even if the orcs had no weapons they couldn't survive one hit. Edvard did not blame them for being scared to death, he knew just how insanely strong and fast orcs were.

Still, the guards slowed the orcs advance enough for those from the manor and church to make it. Charging in, most of these people's swords glowed softly.

Those from the manor were dressed as poor knights with chainmail instead of plate armor. Their weapons most often had a golden brown glow, with a few red glows in the mix and one blue.

The church people instead were dressed like true knights, their armor had a bright golden laurel on the chest and their weapons shone in the same golden glow.

In total this mix of 'knights' was 28 capable fighters. Twelve from the church and the rest from the manor.

They stopped the orcs in their tracks. Mostly because the orcs were bottlenecked by the gate, but their feat was still impressive. At least five orcs could fit through the gate, and around ten already had.

AN: Read the author's note regarding further releases.